Chasing Waves
by Jamille Shane
Summary: Brenak, son of Jan and Vreenak and Arienne, daughter of Rekar and Jamie Lee. Brenak needs stability while Arienne needs to find her own voice when it comes to her father's expectations. Will the two of them meeting be love at first sight or a disaster? A collaborative writing effort between BewilderedFemale and Jamille Shane, this takes place many years after Deal or No Deal.
1. How Things Are

"I'm leaving," Brenak said as he packed his things in a hurry. This was the last fight he and his father would have; he would make sure of it!

"Please reconsider! Our life is here on Romulus!" his poor mother cried as she knew deep down inside that she was powerless to stop him. It brought about much pain to see her boy leaving on such bad terms with his father.

"I really have no idea how you can stand him mom, I just… He can't tell me how to run my life! I'm a grown man! I have no desire whatso_ever_ to get involved in Romulan politics, much less become a Senator! You would think that he would've gotten a clue by now but no, he just keeps pushing and trying to manipulate circumstances to work out in his favor and I'm sick of it!"

"I'll talk to him about it," she pleaded as she held out her hands to him. He was her baby, it didn't matter that he was already in his late 30's and still living at home. She knew that in certain respects it was selfish of her, but she didn't know if she could stand him leaving. "Just don't leave!" she cried out to him.

Brenak shook his head as he piled the rest of his clothes and a pair of sandals into his bag. "It's too late, I've already contacted some friends from Earth, they're expecting me."

"Where will you go?"

He paused for a moment wondering if he should tell her, but then he quickly realized that it didn't matter whether they knew or not, no amount of threats or manipulations would get him to not leave.

"Florida, near the beach most likely," he replied. It was no secret that Brenak was a very skilled and competent surfer having won many competitions and even now being offered a modeling contract for a big name surfer company. Even though he was almost 37, being half Romulan meant that he didn't look a day over 25 to say nothing of his alluring physique that drove both Earth and Romulan women wild.

"Will you at least call me to let me know that you've arrived in safety?" his mother asked with tears cascading from her eyes.

"Of course I will I- Mom, you had to know that I wasn't going to stay here forever right? An offer was made to me and I made up my mind about it and you know dad has never agreed with me on anything since the moment I could first put a complete sentence together."

His mom, Janette, nodded. "I know son, it is his way."

"Well I'm sick of it!" Brenak yelled angrily as he zipped up his duffel bag. He then took her by the hand and sat her down on his bed. He wanted her to understand that he wouldn't abandon them; he just knew that this was simply something he had to do and now was the time to do it. "I'll come visit, and you come visit me too when you're not doing your archeological excursions. You'll see ma, I'm going to become the best surfer and be so rich and famous on Earth that even dad will have to admit that he was wrong about me!"

She sighed loudly and simply looked at his eager eyes. She so wanted to believe what he was saying and she knew that he had the talent to do so, and it was then that she finally smiled and hugged her son as tightly as she could. He was leaving, but she knew that he'd survive on his own.

OoOoOoOoOoO

3 years later….

It was an exceptionally hot day as Brenak rode his hover bike down the beach line. He smiled and slightly shifted his sunglasses as he looked up at the billboard that showed him catching a wave on a Q'Oakay brand surf board. Success had been achieved and he couldn't be happier.

Things had actually gone better than expected in terms of his surfing career, and now not only was he modeling for Q'Oakay, but he also recently signed a deal with a major soda company that enabled him to acquire all the Dr Pepper he wanted which had become his preferred drink ever since his best friends Bretant and Lentak introduced him to it.

Adjusting to life on Earth however had had its challenges particularly in the modeling world. He was obligated to attend many parties filled with the most gorgeous of women in the galaxy and it seemed to Brenak that they all wanted him; this meant of course that he'd have to make himself available to all of them – which he had no qualms about providing assistance with.

He had found himself in various interesting circumstances ranging from being drop kicked in the face by a woman's angry husband, waking up hung over and having absolutely no clue as to where he was, to being slapped in public- by various women…

But all these things could be overlooked when he considered that he was finally pulling his own weight and as soon as he was able to, he had purchased a luxurious 8 bedroom beach-front home that was the envy of the neighborhood.

When he got home from his bike ride, he saw that his mother had called. He sighed and became thoughtful. It had been a good few months since he had last seen her when she visited him, and he did miss her very much. He established a connection and her face came on screen. Her brown eyes were wide with joy when she saw his tanned face smiling back at her.

"My dear sweet Brenak, how is my big shot model doing?!" she asked excitedly.

He smiled. He really did feel genuine joy in seeing her. "Things are good, I'm actually flying out tomorrow to Maui for a shoot, you caught me on my day off." He then popped the top off a soda, momentarily oblivious to the fact that his mother was a major health nut.

"Brenak? What's that you're drinking?" she asked as a scowl began to form on her face.

"Whaaa? Nothing, just uh- w-w-water."

"That didn't look like water to me Brenak, are you drinking soda?!"

"Ummmm…"

"Brenak! Soda is horrible for your health! It's loaded with high fructose corn syrup and other chemicals that deteriorate your body!"

"I know mom, but it's just one soda…"

"Didn't you get the book I sent you explaining in detail what it will do to you over the years?"

"Yes, mom," he said as he tried not to roll his eyes.

"Honey, I tell you these things for your own good, you know that right sweetheart?"

He nodded. "Yes mom, I know soda is bad and I will try to cut down on it, I know I need to."

"Brenak, I was wondering is there- well, have you given thought to maybe seriously dating someone and finally settling down?"

This time Brenak did roll his eyes. "You've been talking to Aunt Bea and Uncle Letant haven't you?"

"Well, they came over the other day and were so pleased to hear of all the progress you've been making, it's only natural that now that you're somewhat established that maybe you consider engaging in a serious relationship. They would love nothing more for you to get married and start spitting out a bunch of kids but you and I both know that that's something entirely up to you."

"I'm fine the way I am mom," he said. "Listen, can we change the subject? Tell me about you, how is … you know, what's his face…"

Janette raised a brow. "Your father?"

"Yeah…" Brenak replied gruffly.

"He doesn't mention you, but he does keep tabs on you. I walked into his office the other day and he had left his computer screen on. He had been reading an article that Surfing Style had written about you."

Brenak scoffed, "Probably just seeking material to justify not speaking to me."

Janette shook her head. "I believe that he misses you a lot more than either of us can imagine but you know your father's disposition. He wanted you to be a Senator and it didn't happen. He has an uncanny ability to be quite stubborn at times."

"Yeah well… When am I going to see you ma?"

"Oh dear, I was thinking maybe at the end of this month, do you think you would be able to take some time off then? I'd so like for all of us to get together again like old times."

Brenak opened up his calendar on a separate screen, he was always busy, but there was nothing he wouldn't do for his mother.

"Looks good to me; I can take a week off and go to Romulus."

His mom clapped her hands happily. "Good! Oh, I'm so glad that you're coming home!"

"Yeah," he said, "I'll be there."

QQQQQ

Arienne sat on the balcony of her room, watching the Romulan sunset. The colors and hues blending from one intensity to another was breathtakingly beautiful. The beauty before her left her touched but also strangely empty. She found herself, once again, dissatisfied with her life.

She mentally took stock of the possible reasons for that empty feeling she kept having.

Her professional life was more than fulfilling. She was in her early 30s and nearly 10 years before she had almost accidentally crashed onto the galactic scene with a line of tiny handbags for girls in their early teens. The success had not been foreseen or even sought after, but almost overnight there was a fanatical demand for the little bags on Earth, Betazed and Bajor, primarily, but those were not the only planet they were sold...

As time went on, Arienne expanded her handbags into three lines. The 'Tiny Line' was still for preteens and teenagers. Though their mass production was limited, they were inexpensive and easy to purchase. Her larger, more designer handbags from her second line with lovely, intricate -sometimes not so intricate- designs were made for more mature students and career women so they could carry everything they needed in style. They ranged from the almost inexpensive to the 'just out of reach' price range.

And then four years before, Arienne made a third line of bags called 'The Exclusive Collection'. She had literally made only 10 of those in the last four years. They were custom made and sold at the highest prices. Usually top business people, royalty and politicians the galaxy over were the ones who ordered and then purchased them. Almost 50% of the proceeds went to the orphanage that her parents sponsored there on Romulus for the children of the disgraced.

In between all of that success, she had also launched a costume jewelry and a footwear line. She sometimes synced up bags, shoes and jewelry to match, but she wasn't too crazy about doing that and tried to shy away from it. That fashionable sync-up of her products had been at the insistence of her business manager who had seen nothing but dollar signs since the day he'd discovered her tiny bags and insisted someone would buy them. It had been a lucrative career for them both, but sometimes her manager drove her crazy with his schemes to make even more money.

Arienne's newest sketches for a line of surf shoes sat on her personal balcony. It was for a contract she had just picked up for a company called Q'Oakay. Her new designs were based on Earth aquatic life. The one she was working on now was called 'The Dolphin Line'. It was a streamlined surf shoe designed in such a way that it not only molded to the foot of the wearer and kept out sand while allowing water to flow through the vent holes, but it also protected his or her feet from reefburn, venomous sea life and abrasive rocks in the water. The Q'Oakay company was planning on using some big name model from their billboards to wear them at some point in the near future when she rolled out the new design.

Arienne, though, was tired of thinking about work. Maybe what she needed was a vacation! But every time she left Romulus, her dad wanted to either tag along, send one of her older brothers or send security with her.

She was annoyed. Even her little brother 11 years her junior, was free to traipse about the galaxy anytime he wished! Fortunately he had done nothing more than go to Earth and go surfing, as far as she knew, but she resented the double standard she knew was going on, there.

She used to tell herself it was because she was the only daughter and the next to youngest child of her parents. But once D'Nal turned 19 over two years before and was free to find himself, no questions asked by her dad, she experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had been practically sheltered for years simply because she was a female. She flopped down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling.

Arienne knew that her mother had done her best when she had first come of age at 21. Jamie Lee tried to talk Rekar out of his sexist ways. The 'talks' turned into arguments.

Her parents had had one particularly bad argument complete with shouting and Jamie Lee throwing things at her husband's head. She at one point put her foot down and had threatened to leave for good. The result of that had been her father letting Arienne leave Romulus several times a year on her own (with security!) for long bits of time, at least. That was when she had launched her career and soared professionally.

The only place her dad let her go with no security was Vulcan to visit her cousin T'Nora. But that kind of sucked lately, too, because T'Nora and her husband Giellun had married years before, but now they were having their first baby. It brought home to Arienne, once again, that all of her friends and close relatives had moved on with their lives and were either living on their own in their careers and/or choice of schooling, or had gotten married and now some had children!

What had she had, so far? Two boyfriends, total, and her dad had used his Tal Shiar contacts to make certain the young men never spoke to her again! They had been very human young men scared to death by the Romulans that had called them to enquire after their intentions for Arienne.

She sometimes contemplated dating a Klingon just to watch that vein in her father's jaw pop out! But she had to be truthful with herself. She loved her parents. And she was a daddy's girl who didn't want to hurt him.

So her mind looped back to the thought of a vacation. Maybe she needed to take that vacation, finally.

There was the Apnex Sea. It was there on Romulus and some of her parents friends were getting together there that following week. Her mom and little brother, D'Nal, were supposed to be going, too, since her dad and older brother would be working yet again. The twins were off on Earth helping Uncle Benjamin with the restaurant that time of year. She sat up quickly.

Okay, that was it for sure. Arienne started packing. She could relax and maybe catch a little bit of sun and then return home refreshed to run experiments on her surf shoe designs. Since it was her mom, younger brother and herself, she knew her dad would insist they bring security. She shrugged. At some point her dad was going to have to let her go. Even if she had to run off to get some freedom! She laughed at that thought as she started looking for the right clothes to pack for the seaside. She wasn't the running off type, she knew, but she could always dream!

Her younger brother, D'Nal, crashed into her room then and began jumping on her. "Whatchu' doing, big head?" In looks, he was a young Rekar, but in behavior he was all human. It was the reason he went to Earth so often to surf. He usually went to Hawaii's North Shore, but occasionally he would go to California and Florida.

Arienne playfully pushed her brother, "Get off of my bed!"

D'Nal crashed to the floor on purpose, just to make his sister laugh. He knew she was stressed out, having to be home all the time. At least her time on Earth was coming up soon. He looked over at the balcony and her sketches pinned to a board. "Are those the new surf shoes?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

D'Nal looked over at her and saw she was feeling down, once again. "Ari, I don't understand. Why don't you just tell dad to shove it and go wherever you want?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Aunt Jacinda said her and mom were a lot like that, too. I just don't want to make him unhappy."

"Grandma and grandpa didn't talk to them for years because of who they married. I think history might repeat itself if you don't lay down the law with dad now. Get the silent treatment stuff out of the way now! And besides, right now you're the one that's always unhappy. That's not fair, Ari!"

She shook her head. "Mom told me the same thing, that I'm the only one who can do it now."

D'Nal smiled. "See! At least _mom_ would be talking you!"

Arienne, though very independent, was very much a daddy's girl and the thought of her father not speaking to her killed her on the inside. Thinking about it made her want to cry. But she wouldn't. Unlike D'Nal, she was a little more Romulan in her actions.

"Is that your suitcase?" he asked, excited.

"I was about to pack to go with you guys to the seaside, not to run away."

"Oh well," he shrugged. "I could have helped. Anyhow, I'm glad you're coming with us. You can get out of this house, at least."

"For now…" she muttered.


	2. Vacation

Despite what people thought, the modeling life was not all fun and games.

During the shoot in Maui, Brenak had to be up and ready by 5:00 a.m. each and every morning. He wasn't allowed to eat anything except a banana or a protein drink. Only after the shoot was done for the day was he free to eat or drink whatever he wanted so long as it didn't exceed 1,500 calories, but he hardly ever followed through with that last rule and that was the beauty of being half Romulan and having a faster metabolism.

Each morning there was a briefing of what the day's events would consist of followed by becoming familiarized with the product he and the others would be modeling; this was followed by the makeup sessions that always took longer than necessary. Brenak would be circled by both men and women; One with a hair brush, another with a facial brush and a makeup palette, and another person spritzing oil on his tan skin. Everyone was always so focused that he look his best that he couldn't help but feel like the star of the show.

Sometimes his evenings consisted of attending meetings and already he and the founder of Q'Oakay were good buddies. He liked the way Brenak brought out the enthusiasm one could have by purchasing a Q'Oakay product and they would often discuss what surfers wanted in their gear and how to bring that to life in the photo sessions. At the end of the day, the truth was that Brenak was good at what he did and he knew it. Between everything else he had going on, he also had to find time to work out and keep himself looking at his optimum.

The times he didn't have meetings, it was party time; and Brenak knew how to party.  
As soon as he would enter the room and flash his debonair smile, it was as if everyone's attention shifted toward him. Sometimes it proved difficult for him to get around the room since his ability to converse easily meant that almost everyone wanted to talk to him.

Women avidly sought to be with him. He could be seen many a time sitting down with a girl in each arm, and several others circling him because on top of being devastatingly handsome, he could also be extremely charming. This of course sometimes caused difficulties and fights would break out because of him. At first it alarmed him greatly, especially when some of these fights made headlines but it had become such a frequent occurrence that now it just amused him. It really was of no consequence since he hardly ever stuck around with one woman. They were fun to hang out with and entertaining to look at but there was nothing beyond that. He never sat down to wonder why or really delve into the matter, he was simply content in living in the moment.

He often wondered why he hadn't made the move to become a model sooner, but these thoughts usually resulted in blaming his father; his father was to blame for almost everything it seemed. The days were coming up however in which he'd probably have to see him, and he knew that nothing but arguing would result from it.

After he got back from Maui, he got a call from his friend D'Nal. "You packing your stuff and getting ready?"

He smiled as he replied back: "Yeah, I'm anxious to see my mom again and then hit the Apnex Sea."

"Dude, is your mom coming?" D'Nal asked.

"I don't think so, why?"

"I just don't want anyone to cramp our style!"

Brenak rolled his eyes. "Even if she were coming she wouldn't bother us, we'll be out catching waves".

"Well on second thought maybe she should come so she can keep my sister company."

Brenak blinked. "Oh yeah, I remember her from when we were kids; haven't seen her in forever though. I always got the impression that she never leaves the four walls of the Rekar estate."

"Yeah, you can thank my dad for that." D'Nal replied. "If it were up to him he'd keep a tracking device on her at all times."

"Dude, that's a bit extreme. What is up with our fathers acting like we're still little kids? We're grown-ups; I turn forty this year, for crying out loud!"

D'Nal laughed heartily at that. "Ha! You're an old man! Maybe you should retire and let me be the model now."

"In your dreams D; I'm in high demand."

"And humble as well." D'Nal laughed.

"By the way, your sister isn't going to be all fawning over me is she? I'm actually looking forward to some peace and quiet." He then perked up the front of his hair before trailing his left eyebrow with his pinky; this caused D'Nal to fold over from laughing so much.

"You are so full of yourself Brenak! I'm totally gonna tell her you said that!"

"Hmmm… maybe you should, in a nice way of course, that way I won't be bothered."

"Brenak, do you want to have an object thrown at your head? You don't know how my sister can get."

"Of course not, I already have a small scar on my forehead from a surfing accident; I certainly don't need another one. I don't get it, why would she throw something at me? Wait, do you mean flowers? Flowers aren't heavy enough to cause damage, D'Nal."

"Wow. That was so lame it was funny!" D'Nal said before he broke out in fits of laughter again.

Brenak never got tired of watching D'Nal laugh at the things he said and even though he said these things as a joke, the majority of what he had said was true in his mind. "Well I gotta go; I want to get something nice for mom before I leave for Romulus."

"Get something nice for me too!" D'Nal replied.

Brenak laughed. "Jelly fish repellent, gotcha."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

When Brenak arrived at Romulus, the very first thing he did when he got out of the shuttle landing area was head to a small outside kiosk where a man was selling Vad'Lau; a dish made with small birds native to Rateg. They were stewed and then sautéed in a creamy sauce. It had been one of his favorite dishes and one of the things he was looking forward to enjoying once he had gotten back. He took a seat outside the kiosk and looked to his left and was extremely shocked and slightly horrified to see Senator Pardek gobbling down a bowl of the stuff as if his life depended on it. When the rotund man finally came up for air he nearly choked at the sight of Brenak.

Brenak had in mind to simply get up and walk away. The last thing he needed was to come across one of his father's co-workers during his off time, but just as he made the motion to get up, Pardek waved at him with his chubby fingers. "Boy! You're Vreenak's son aren't you?" When Brenak continued to stare at him with wide eyes, Pardek let out a loud laugh and slapped him so hard on the back that he almost fell off his chair.

"Whoa, son, Earth has made you weak! You'll need to be properly nourished!" He smiled and patted his enormous belly loudly.

"Ummm…" Brenak replied. "My dad isn't with you, is he?"

Pardek laughed again. "No, I'm flying solo this time around. Came over here for a light mid-day snack before lunch. You know, speaking of your father, I once tried to get in on that diet of his where you just eat collard greens. Is that what it's called? Some earth vegetable his wife likes to prepare for him."

Brenak lifted the drink that had been brought to him and gave it a sniff before taking a sip but then immediately set it back down on the table.

"What's wrong, son? Not warm enough?" Pardek asked.

"Uh... no, it's just... well; I'm used to drinking Dr Pepper, I guess."

Pardek's eyes lit up like gems. "I quite enjoy Dr Pepper myself! We have a lot in common, boy!"

Brenak shifted his head to the side as he stared at Pardek. "You know what Dr. Pepper is?"

"Well sure! That's how I met my girlfriend, Prissy! She's human, too, just like your mother."

Brenak blinked without saying anything. Things had definitely changed for he was sure that Pardek would live out the rest of his life alone and clinging to the Senate and food for a reason to live. "Have you seen my father?" He suddenly asked without really intending to.

Pardek thought about it for a moment before answering. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him today, might be tied up in a meeting or something." He then shoved his empty plate to the side and swiped his card on the credit station before hopping off his seat and thus causing his belly to bounce. "Well, I must be getting back; I have a hearing I must attend in an hour." He then smiled and slightly bowed. "It's been nice seeing you again, son of Vreenak."

Brenak resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, it was nice seeing you too."

He sat there and watched as the chubby man and his entourage of guards all mounted on the flitter and sped away, his face quite bright and happy as he had just had several helpings of Vad'Lau. There were times he wished that his own father would be as jovial and easy to get along with. Maybe then he wouldn't have had to leave Romulus in the first place.

QQQQQ

Arienne had decided to pack as minimalist as possible. Two swimsuits, three long flowing skirts, several sweaters to keep off the chill and a blanket her aunt Jacinda had made for her many years ago were among the possessions she had packed. Since she hadn't needed to pack anything for business wear or any kind of formal sit-down dinner, she had room in her one bag for two casual pair of sandals, a bunch of comfy night socks, two pairs of jeans and two pairs of shorts. She knew her father did not like her wearing shorts. Well he wouldn't be there, so as far as she was concerned, she could wear whatever she wanted.

Her mother wandered into the room. She looked terribly stuffed up and uncomfortable! "Mom, what happened?"

"I woke up with an awful cold," she said sounding horribly nasal. Time had been very kind to Jamie Lee Sisko in the looks department. The women of her family aged notoriously slow and she still looked more than good for a human woman of her age. But the cold had made her nose turn red from her having to wipe it and her poor eyes were pinkish and watery.

"Ah, mom! You want me to stay home and take care of you?"

"No, baby! You go! I know you need a vacation from your overbearing father." She laughed out loud at that.

Arienne giggled that her mother had said that. She knew her mom felt her dad was a tad restrictive, even with his wife, at times. But then her mother's temper would come out and he would stop trying to keep Jamie Lee in his sight at all times.

D'Nal ran into the room then. "The hover's here!"

Arienne found herself suddenly excited about going on vacation! The last time she had gotten some kind of relaxation had been a few months back on Vulcan when she had gone to see T'Nora. That had not lasted long since her father had tagged along and insisted it was time for her to return home when an available Vulcan male from Talon's family began eyeing her a little too much.

She was about to grab her stuffed little bag that she'd only just finished packing, but her younger brother (whom was bigger than her!) grabbed the bag and said, "I got it, sis."

Her mother exclaimed with a proud smile as she looked at D'Nal, "That's my baby!"

Arienne laughed. Her mother said that about all of her children, even Jachus who was the eldest and pushing forty!

Ari pulled out her testing equipment, tricorder and prototype surf shoes along with the sketches and stuffed them all in a long bag with compartments so everything remained secure and in its proper place. "I can test these out on the Apnex!"

"Are you bringing your surfboard?" asked her mother.

"Yeah, I have it downstairs already."

They all made it downstairs, D'Nal already packing the car, when Rekar walked out of the house. "Arienne! You didn't tell daddy good-bye!"

She smiled up at her dad. "Bye, daddy!" she said as she hugged him. He got on her nerves, but she loved her father ridiculously.

"What's all of this equipment?" he asked.

"I'm testing out my prototype shoes on the Apnex," she said matter of factly. "I forgot my wetsuit!" she exclaimed as she ran back in the house.

"Wetsuit?" he asked, alarmed. "Is she surfing?" he asked his wife.

Jamie Lee sighed. "Rekar, we've talked about this. It's an ancient Earth sport and I'm not going to bar our daughter from a part of her planetary heritage. And look at it this way, don't you think your Romulan daughter can handle one puny human sport?"

Rekar knew when he was being conned. "Puny? It is a dangerous human sport! Insanity is a trait of humankind and surfing is one of its symptoms!"

"She's good at it!" Jamie Lee shook her head. "Let her go. You don't let her do anything as it is. And she'll get to spend time with her little brother."

Rekar practically frowned as his daughter ran downstairs with her grey and black wetsuit folded and stuffed under her arm. She retrieved her surfboard from behind the back of the door and hauled it to the hoverlimo.

Arienne loved her surfboard. The artwork on it was a vibrant aqua hue. In the middle of it was the depiction of a mermaid swimming with a pod of dolphins. The mermaid, upon closer inspection, looked suspiciously like Arienne down to her long curly hair. She giggled, very flattered, when she first saw the finished product since she had not asked the guy who'd painted it to put the mermaid in her likeness. But he said he felt inspired when he saw her face. Rekar, at that point, had stepped in between them and paid the artisan, grabbed the board with one arm and his daughter with the other. That had been five years ago. She actually laughed out loud at that memory since it had been funny on hindsight.

"All right, my son, my daughter, behave yourselves or I'll come looking for you!" laughed Jamie Lee. They knew their mom was joking since she had never worried about either one of them responsibility wise.

But Rekar looked at D'Nal. "I'm counting on you, son, to keep an eye on your sister." He was serious.

"Dad, I'm ten years older than him and I used to change his diapers," Arienne said as she smacked D'Nal in the backside to make a point.

The boy who looked so like his father flashed a very human smile. "Sorry, dad! But she's like a second mommy! _ I_ listen to _her_!"

Rekar felt as if he were totally out of control of the situation as his two youngest children got into the hoverlimo. "Don't talk to strangers!" he found himself yelling after the vehicle as it pulled away.

"They have security with them for the outside of the beach house," Jamie Lee shook her head. "Does that make you feel better?"

"No," he exclaimed with half a pout. "I wish I'd gone with them."

"You know what happens when those two get out on the sea, they go and go and go all day. You'd be bored to tears."

He sighed. He knew his wife was right. "All right. Well can you make me some hot chocolate to make me feel better, at least?"

"I'm the one that's sick!"

He remembered then. "Oh, my blossom! Yes, you are. Come inside. I'll get you some soup." He hugged her to him and pulled her back inside the house.

QQQQQ

They pulled up to the beach estate that they had all chipped in together to rent. The sound of the ocean washed over both siblings and they looked at one another, totally happy in their element. From the looks of things, except for security, they were the first ones there. "Let's go!" D'Nal exclaimed happily as they both jumped out of the hoverlimo.

He pulled his board out, a maroon thing with sea turtles drawn onto it. He took Arienne's board from her, as well and hauled both of them into the foyer of the house. He knew Brenak would be there within the next half hour or so, but he still wasn't sure if his mother was coming or if she would arrive separately.

The security men that had traveled in a separate car had arrived before them and secured the perimeter. Both siblings went into the house and hauled their things inside. They ran around the large beach home and looked in every room first.

"I want this one!" Arienne shouted excitedly. It was one of the smallest rooms in the house on the second floor, but it was very cozy with a fireplace. It also happened to have a balcony that faced the ocean. She knew the view would be great for her sketches and inspiration for more designs.

D'Nal found the room across the hall from her that was much larger and comfortable. "I want this one!"

"You're such a girl!" teased Arienne.

And then D'Nal sighed. "Hey, um, you know I told you Brenak is coming on this trip, right?"

She thought about his name. "Oh, yeah. Jan's son, right? Haven't seen him in years." What she didn't say was that she had heard about _him_ by way of gossip every time she went to Earth. She hadn't seen him in a long time, but his reputation preceded him. He was quite the womanizer!

D'Nal saw she was unpacking her things without a care. "Um, you know he's a model, right?"

She shrugged. "I've met plenty. What, he wants to model my surf shoes?" she laughed.

"Um, no, um…" He knew how his sister was and he also knew she was under a lot of stress. He hadn't seen her this carefree in such a long time and he didn't want to upset her by telling her the stupid thing Brenak had said about following him around. "Aren't you going to test out your own shoes?" he changed the subject.

She smiled. "Yeah! I can't wait to get the schematics back on them."

"You know you can count on me to wear the finished product and give you my opinion, too, right?"

She smiled and hugged her big younger sibling. "I know that, buddy!"

He didn't say one more word on the subject of Brenak as he left her room to go to his and unpack.

They were both just zipping up their wetsuits by the time Brenak pulled up in his vehicle.

Arienne exited the house first, surfboard under her arm. Arienne was briefly taken aback by how good looking Brenak was. His eyes were grey, that was for sure! And she could tell he was in really good shape just from the size of his shoulders peeking out from under that shirt. And then she realized, he was that guy from the billboards! No wonder women were doing stupid things like slapping one another over him. She laughed on the inside. He was a really good looking man, but she would never behave in such an undignified manner in public!

But Brenak was also bowled over by Arienne. It wasn't just that she was beautiful with lively eyes and so human looking paired with such Romulan external features, but she was in a wetsuit with a board under her arm. He wondered for a split second if she was just testing out surfing for the first time. He looked closely at her board and saw the light glinting off of it. It seemed to be properly waxed, at least. D'Nal must have helped her with that…

He also wondered if she would start acting all lovesick about him. He sighed on the inside, hoping D'Nal had spoken to her ahead of time about staying out of his way and began to think the trip was going to be a drag with this amateur surfer girl hanging on his every expert move and charismatic word…

She smiled easily at him and said, "Hey, you're Brenak, right?"

"Yes, I am," he said. At least she had a nice womanly voice!

"I haven't seen you since I was like seven! Nice to see you again!" she exclaimed. "I'ma catch me some waves, dude! See you out there!" And she was off running for the ocean.

He stood there and watched as she ran to the perimeter of the sea but then was interrupted by someone else walking out of the house. He turned to see that it was D'Nal. "Hey, man!" his friend exclaimed with a huge grin.

Brenak also smiled huge and gave D'Nal one of those quick manly hugs that barely lasted two seconds with one pat on the back. "Your sister is trying out surfing?" he asked incredulously.

He frowned. "I hope you didn't say that to _her_!"

Brenak turned back around to see Arienne already out there on her board, face down, paddling out to the waves. She seemed to know what she was doing for the time being. Beginner's luck, he supposed. "Hey, shouldn't you be out there watching her?"

D'Nal realized then what the situation was in Brenak's head. And he just stood back and laughed a little. "Ari doesn't need any help," he said proudly as his sister began paddling rapidly to catch a wave coming in.

She stood quickly and at first, just rode the wave. She was able to then swing around and catch a large inner barrel and disappeared out of their sight.

Arienne crouched low as she rode through the funnel of water, her hand briefly skimming the inner crest. The guys caught the last of that maneuver when she became visible again from the shore as she shot out of it still crouched low, her stance spot on perfect.

Brenak's mouth dropped open. "Maybe she can help _you_, dude!" D'Nal joked.


	3. Talking

It didn't take long for Brenak to hurriedly bring his things inside the beach house and run back out with his own state of the art longboard that ranked highest in speed and was easy to maneuver in the water. It was completely aqua in color but there was a massive rip curl designed to look like fire, a very masculine and bold choice that tried to give the statement that he dominated the waters. He waxed his surfboard well while barely hearing what D'Nal was saying to him.

"Did you teach her how to surf?" He suddenly asked as he interrupted D'Nal.

He laughed. "Dude, you're so hung up on my sister knowing how to surf, that's _hilarious_! Maybe she should be the model!"

"I'm not! You have to admit it's weird to see a chick riding that well."

"What can I say Brenak, you're not the only good surfer, so why don't you quit whining like a pansy and get out there and show her your stuff?"

Brenak raised his chin and protruded his chest slightly as he gripped his surfboard. "That is exactly what I intend to do."

D'Nal was enjoying this far too much, he didn't even reach for his own board. He ran after Brenak and watched as he paddled out towards a line-up of waves. He could see when Brenak paused for a moment and watched as Arienne caught a wave and was presently tube riding inside the curl. He watched her posture as her toes were placed perfectly near the nose of her board, she made it look so easy and it only fueled him to swim out further in hopes to catch and ride a series of waves which didn't take long at all to occur.

Arienne had to admit that she understood now why he was all the rage. It wasn't common to see a surfer perform a soul arch on the tip of the board, especially while riding a choppy wave. A person had to be in really good shape as well as possess good balance and strength. It was almost like watching a dance where his board was his partner and the water was the dance floor. Seeing this however in no way intimidated her nor caused her opinion of him to improve, she simply kept doing her own thing. Only when her stomach started groaning and protesting that it needed fuel did she finally ride out to shore where D'Nal was there with a blanket spread out and a large cooler beside him.

She had forgotten how much fun surfing was, and how it burned a lot of calories! It was necessary to eat well beforehand and take breaks with foods that provided quick energy like bananas which they had luckily brought along with them.

Brenak was just floating along the waves when he saw her finally come in. It was about time! But he was most definitely not going to come in before a girl and there was nothing else to say about that! He was dripping wet, the water reflecting off his perfectly muscled body. He puffed up his chest and flipped his hair to the side and in his deepest voice said to her, "Nice job out there."

Arienne however only looked up and smiled before she went back to quickly stuffing half a banana in her mouth and then fishing out a sandwich from the bag that was bigger than her head.

"Wh- are you gonna eat all that?" Brenak asked in shock. He was so used to women eating daintily in front of him or not at all lest his opinion of them lessen for being hogs.

D'Nal laughed. "She may not look it, but she can definitely put it away when she wants to."

She laughed and winked at her brother before she lifted her hand up in the air. "Toss me a soda, D." D'Nal reached into the cooler and pulled out a Dr Pepper before tossing it to her. She caught it with one hand and then made herself comfortable on her beach chair before unwrapping the sandwich. "Oh my gosh! I'm starving!" she exclaimed before she attacked the sandwich. Some of the sauce dripped off her pinkish lips and made them glossy. Brenak watched as if completely hypnotized as she wiped it off with the back of her hand, no less, and then continued to eat.

"Sis, it's called a _napkin_," D'Nal said and threw a box of napkins at her. "You're really letting loose now that mom and dad aren't around."

"Well," she mumbled back, "gotta make the most of it, you know?" She then smiled at Brenak before she took another bite out of her sandwich and that was really all the indication he needed to verify that she was head over heels for him and wanted him to make a move. He smiled to himself and reached for a soda. It really was a curse; all women wanted him!

After she had eaten, she excused herself and headed towards the house to freshen up. Brenak watched to make sure she was gone before he sat next to his pal and said: "Dude, your sister totally wants me."

At that moment however, D'Nal was right in the middle of swallowing his soda. He reflexively laughed and the result was that liquid gushed out of his nose and all over himself and his friend. "Brenak, man! That was really an off moment to be saying a joke!" D'Nal said as he flicked liquid off his hair and face.

Brenak fetched the box of napkins and handed them to him. "It's no joke. I can tell! I had a feeling that this would happen."

D'Nal could not help but smirk. "Oh yeah? What did she do that made you suddenly aware that she's totally in love with you?"

"The way she smiled at me."

D'Nal slapped his forehead. "The way she smiled at you? Did you have some kind of head injury that I was not made aware of, Brenak? Have you been out in the sun too long and you need to go inside for a few minutes to cool down?"

But before Brenak could answer, a flitter was slowly making its way up the beach house and he instantly recognized that it was his mother's, except he saw that she wasn't alone. There were a couple of other people with her. "That's odd, I wonder who decided to show up," Brenak said more to himself than D'Nal.

"Dude, your mom brought along her gal pals! That's alright, we'll just have to bunk up to make room."

Brenak lifted a brow and gave a look very similar to his father's but D'Nal never said this aloud because he knew it would just upset him. He knew that Brenak hated the fact that he and his father were not on speaking terms but they were both too stubborn to really do anything about it.

"Well, let's go greet them," Brenak said as he headed towards the flitter.

QQQQQ

Jan was the first one to hop out of the vehicle as Bea and Comfort came spilling out after her.

Before he could get a word out, his mother she rushed up to him and enfolded him in a huge hug. "How's my favorite son doing?" she gushed.

"I'm your only son, ma!" he laughed, playfully exasperated as he hugged her back. As usual, it was great to be back with her again!

The other two ladies were busy talking, when Comfort burst out, asking. "Where's Jamie Lee?! She said she was gone be here!"

D'Nal smiled, "She's got up with a really bad cold, but if Bea calls maybe she'll haul it out here within the next day or two?"

All of the ladies gasped, looking at him, "Is that you, little D'Nal?" they were remarking as they all surrounded him. "What a cute little man you turned out to be!" said Comfort. "He's not so little anymore, though!"

The older women were surrounding him, pinching his cheeks and giving him kisses when Brenak exclaimed, "Hey what am I, ladies? Chopped liver?"

Bea and Comfort went, "Awwww!" and swarmed Brenak with his share of kisses and cheek grabs. Bea asked the boy she had watched grow up, "Big shot model now, huh?"

Brenak gave off a tooth whitened smile. "That's me!"

Arienne ran from the house then with a huge smile. "Hi!" she exclaimed to them all. "So great to see you! Maybe you can talk my mom into convalescing here!"

"Oh, there she is!" Bea said happily.

"Is that little Arienne?" asked Jan. "I'm surprised Rekar let her out of his sight. She's _beautiful_!"

Brenak didn't realize it, but he said under his breath, "That, she is."

Jan looked at her son strangely and a plan began to hatch in her mind.

They spent the rest of the day on the waves, Brenak once again trying to out-surf Arienne's time. It was starting to get under his skin the way she was trying to disguise her obvious like and admiration for him. She was probably close to in love with him by that point after seeing his action on the waves! He decided if she finally spoke up, he would take it easy on her, let her down gently…and then maybe date her anyway. It was good to keep the girls on their toes so they didn't get too comfortable or think he was all theirs or something!

The ladies all congregated on the beach, engaging in happy social talk amongst one another for the better part of that day. After they went indoors, Arienne left to go inside for the night. She was excited about whatever readings she was going to get off of her surf shoes after spending a nice chunk of her day on the waves.

Only after she was back in the house a full half hour did Brenak leave the beach and go back into the house.

The kitchen was bustling with the hearty talk of the ladies and D'Nal, but he saw Arienne was nowhere in sight. He went upstairs to take off his wetsuit and catch a shower. He saw that her room door was closed and wondered when she was going to come out again.

Arienne was in her room going over the schematics. She had gone in and grabbed a quick shower and a banana while she took the data from the readouts. She saw several points where her shoe would have to be adjusted and was excited. Some people would have been disappointed that they hadn't gotten things perfect on the first try. But Arienne enjoyed tinkering with her creations. It brought back fond memories of her trying to make a comfortable yet stylish pair of evening shoes. She had enjoyed the field tests on that much less than she was enjoying the creation of her surf shoes, that was for sure!

She looked over at the balcony and caught the beautiful colors of the sunset paired with the sight and sound of the rolling surf. She found herself smiling for the first time in a long time. Her wetsuit was hanging outside from the railings and her hair was still wet from her day in the ocean and then her having had a shower. She knew her curls were going to rebel on her if she didn't use a leave-in conditioner, but she kind of didn't care. A red hue had overtaken her curls over the years from sun exposure. And her beachy hair was an uninhibited sight to behold.

At one point she went downstairs to grab a plate of food and talk for a little while with everyone else. D'Nal went and made himself comfortable next to her at the dinner table and she smiled over at her little brother and ate the good plate of food placed in front of her by Comfort. No one cooked like her mom and Comfort! "Ah, I want to go back to Earth and work in the kitchen!" she exclaimed at one point.

"I'm coming with you!" D'Nal exclaimed. "We can do weekends at North Shore in Hawaii!"

"All you kids do is surf and work in the family restaurant when you go to Earth?" asked Bea.

The siblings looked at one another and then they both looked at Bea and answered at the same time, "Yeah," as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Everyone laughed at their answer, but Brenak was off to the side watching Arienne, wondering what her game was. She was pointedly not speaking or giving attention to him! He wondered if maybe that was her way of dealing with the fact that she was so in love with him. That was it, he decided. She was avoiding him because her crush on him was becoming so soul crushing!

"I see you watching her," his mother whispered to him as she sat down next to him on the couch a little far from the others in the kitchen and sitting at the table.

He shrugged. "She's pretty. I can look."

"Well that's all you can do with that one," she cautioned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"She's Rekar's daughter," Jan shook her head. "He's not going to like it if anyone tries to date his little girl, it doesn't matter who it is."

He laughed. "Who said anything about dating her?"

"You're right, son. She would never date a guy like you."

He felt an inner blow that his mother would say such a thing. "Ma!" he exclaimed, shocked.

"What?" she asked as if it were no big deal. "You think I don't know about your little antics back on Earth? It's not hard to find pictures of you standing at the scene of some confrontation between two catty girls, you know. They're all over the intergalactic web."

"So you're saying she wouldn't date someone like me for that?" he asked, for the first time realizing something.

"I know, it's not fair," she tried to play it off. "But she seems like the type that will only get serious with a guy and not go for anything casual. Knowing her, she's heard about your reputation and has already decided she's not going to bother." His mother smiled. "Good thing you're not interested in settling down! You dodged a real bullet there, son." She patted him on his back a little and got up, leaving him to stew in those thoughts.

And there was Arienne at the table on her third plate of food, crazy curly red-tinged hair spilling down her shoulders and back as she laughed happily at something D'Nal said to her.

QQQQQ

After the house settled down for the evening and everyone went to bed, Brenak found himself up and hungry. He decided to go down and catch a midnight snack. He walked partway into the kitchen to the muted light of the open refrigeration unit and he could overhear D'Nal's sister talking. He stuck his head into the still darkened kitchen and there was Arienne standing there munching on fruit salad as she spoke to someone on her PADD. "Have you spoken to Mickey lately?" asked her friend. Her voice sounded kind of familiar…

"No," said Arienne, sounding disappointed. "I haven't. I think my dad scared him away for good."

"I'm sorry, honey."

She sighed. "I really liked Mickey a lot," Arienne said as she shrugged. "I still do."

Brenak couldn't help but listen in on the conversation, but he started feeling a little guilty so he walked fully into the kitchen and exclaimed, as if he hadn't heard a thing, "Do you_ ever _stop _eating_?"

The girl on the PADD asked, "Who was that?"

Arienne smiled, closed the refrigeration unit and went and turned on a light. "You don't remember him?" She turned her PADD to face him full-on.

Brenak saw who it was then. "Lisa!"

"Yes, it's my cousin Lisa, Benjamin's daughter."

"Long time no see, hotshot model," Lisa laughed. "Your billboards are the stuff!"

He smiled charmingly at her. "How you doing?" he asked, flirtatiously.

"Um, married," she laughed as she said, "I gotta go now. Enjoy the waves. See you at North Shore soon, Ari."

"See you there!" Arienne told her human cousin and then turned off her PADD.

"She's a surfer, too?" he asked.

"She's the one that taught me," Arienne said, really speaking to him for the first time that day.

She sat down at the table to finish eating her fruit salad and he looked in the large cooling unit to see what was on hand. There were a few leftover sandwiches from earlier. He snagged one and sat down at the table opposite her. He couldn't help but ask, "Who is Mickey?"

She frowned as she finished off the fruit salad. "A guy on Earth that I really liked and I thought he liked me, too."

"Well what happened?" he asked.

She shook her head. "You know my dad was in the Tal Shiar back in the day and he's still got contacts or whatever. Anyway, he had Uncle Koval and another agent call Mickey and ask him what his intentions were regarding me…" She sighed. "That's the second human guy they've done that to. And once again, I am single. Even though I don't think I've ever really truly _had_ a boyfriend. Only technical boyfriends."

He frowned, trying to act as if he were horribly disappointed but for some reason he was glad this Mickey guy was out of the way. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Dad seems to think I'm going to stay single forever, you know?"

"Don't get me started on the subjects of dads," he shook his head. "Mine has tried to control every single aspect of my life from the moment I was born."

She looked sympathetically apologetic. "My dad wants me to stay his little girl forever."

"Well I hate being treated that way and I can't stand my dad." He looked at her, curious. "Is it like that with yours, too?"

She shook her head. "He drives me bonkers but I love my daddy. I remember all the other stuff he does for me, too. Like when I get sick, dad makes me this soup I like with these little crackers in them. And if I cry, I actually get my way with him." Her Romulan side came out, then. "But I would never do something as undignified as cry purposely to obtain a goal. I only found that out after I got really depressed once because he didn't want me to attend Fashion Week in New York on Earth. I didn't cry thinking I would get my way. I just- I just was frustrated and I found myself in tears. Next thing I know, I'm on my way to Fashion Week… with dad." She laughed.

He was horrified. "So he goes with you _everywhere_ when you leave Romulus?"

She sighed, "Either he comes or I have to go with my older brothers or I have to bring security." She shook her head. "It didn't help that once there was this rival company that had a plot to kidnap me and he's been paranoid about me ever since."

Brenak was horrified. "Kidnap you?!" he asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, I was like 22 at the time and they knew that D'Nal would never be able to leave the house without heavy security since he was only like 12, but I was his youngest kid technically able to leave the house and one of the agents from the Tal Shiar called him and told him about the plot to snatch me and that was it. I thought he was ridiculous before? He was off the cuff after that. His mind started spinning all these possibilities for why they would want to take his only girl and…life was rough after that one."

"If you don't stand up to your dad, he's never going to stop."

She sighed. "I know. My mom has said that, D'Nal has said that, a lot my relatives have said that! I know it's true, but I can't break my father's heart. And besides, who needs to date anyway? I've got a great career and I've made my own money separate from my family's holdings. I don't need guys." She equivocated, "It's the same with you, right?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well you've got your career. That's the reason you haven't settled down yet, right? When you've got a career, you don't need to settle down as fast."

He felt a little hollow on the inside. "Yeah, I guess."

"I'm waiting for Mr. Right, anyway, but I obviously haven't met him yet. I really liked Mickey a lot, but if dad's friends can scare him off that fast, he wasn't Mr. Right." She yawned. "I'm tired. I gotta get to bed. I've got surf shoes to redesign tomorrow," she said as she stood.

"Nice talking to you, Arienne."

"You, too, Brenak." She looked at him with innocent eyes. "You're a great friend, you know that? No wonder D likes hanging out with you."

He watched her walk back up the stairs and thought about how she was pretty much sold on staying single…forever? There was something tragic about a woman that beautiful remaining single in perpetuity. He still thought she was in love with him in the back of her mind, she just didn't realize it yet! But he saw her more as a person and not just 'some chick' after that conversation. Maybe they really could be friends, after all?


	4. Don't Tell Me What To Do

The following morning Arienne found herself waking up to the smell of bacon and coffee. It was a most delightful smell and she took a deep breath as she sat up on her bed. All that surfing had allowed her to sleep deeply and she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well. Before getting ready for the day, she opened the door that gave way to the view of the beach and took in the sights and sounds of the Apnex sea. It truly was a ritual she could get uses to and she suddenly realized that she had gone on too long without a vacation; she definitely needed this break.

After freshening up and changing into her skinny jeans, a cute pair of flats she had received as a gift from a fellow designer, and a floral top, she made her way downstairs to find that both Bea and Jan were the ones fixing what seemed to be two different breakfasts; a Vegan version and everything else, apparently. There were waffles, bacon, eggs, biscuits and a very creamy looking sausage gravy, a vegetable quiche, fruit salad, loaves of various types of bread, orange juice, coffee and tea. D'Nal was already helping himself to the food and piling a bit of everything on his plate and it didn't take long for Arienne to do the same after she had gone around and bid everyone a good morning.

"Just pick up a plate and help yourself to whatever you want darlin'," Comfort said to her.

"I trust you all slept well?" Arienne asked as she began serving herself.

"Devine!" Jan replied. "It's the sea air, it just makes all the difference in the world. Hopefully your mother will get here soon; I'm certain it will help her feel better in no time!"

Arienne was about to reply but her attention was currently fixed on watching her brother practically inhale the contents of his plate.

"Come up for air, son, you'll choke if you don't," Bea said as she patted him on the back.

"It's jus'… so good!" He mumbled back.

"That's right, chew your food," Bea said as she wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and then pinched his cheek. "You adorable little man! I wish I could have another child just like you!"

"Why doncha', hun?" Comfort replied.

Bea scoffed. "Oh honey, my plumbing stopped working a long time ago, besides; all the kids are grown and married and the truth is that the husband and I enjoy just traveling and spoiling the grand kids."

Arienne had just started to tuck into her food when Brenak made his way into the kitchen. It did not go unnoticed by her that the very first thing he did when he walked into the room was go directly to his mother and give her a kiss and a hug. They talked for a bit and then he made his way to talk to everyone else. It was very obvious that he loved his mother very much, and she had once heard that a man that loves and takes care of his mother is usually a good husband, as well. Why that thought suddenly came to her mind, she wasn't sure, so she immediately looked over at her brother and gave him a devious smile before she started pulling his plate away from him.

"Hey! I love you sis, but get your own plate!" He exclaimed.

The chair beside her suddenly made a scratching noise against the floor and she realized Brenak was taking a seat next to her. She smiled and bid him a good morning, also noticing that unlike everyone else who was eating, all he was holding was a glass with green liquid inside.

"Time for a seaweed milkshake, hey Brenak?" D'Nal teased.

"Hahaha; this is my morning protein shake. My job does come with its obligations," he said and then flexed one of his arms to demonstrate his well-defined muscles.

"Yeah, ok; you want me to fix you some carrot sticks and a glass of water as well, Mr. Model?" D'Nal asked but towards the end snorted with laughter which caused Arienne to laugh as well.

"Go on and laugh, you all are just jealous," Brenak said as he lifted his chin proudly in the air.

D'Nal picked up a piece of bacon and held it up. "This has protein too and it's delicious."

"But it has fat." Brenak countered.

Arienne shrugged. "So what? How often do you get to eat food like this? And you'll probably burn it off anyway with all the surfing you do."

Brenak took a sip of his drink and then looked at their plates. It did look good. Perhaps just a taste of his mother's vegetable quiche wouldn't hurt!

After breakfast, Jan and her gal pals left to go walk off all the food they had eaten. Arienne wanted to do the same but the truth was that she felt like shopping, and maybe seeing various articles of clothing and accessories would give her ideas. She walked over to her bother to find him passed out sleeping on the couch. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her; he would fall asleep after that feast! But now it meant she'd have to wait for him to wake up and she really wanted to take advantage of the morning and head over to the stores now.

Brenak was of course going to hit the water. He had already changed into his wet suit and was on his way to go get his board when he saw her standing there watching her brother sleep. She seemed annoyed by it.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"He's asleep and I wanted to go shopping."

Brenak shrugged. "Then just go, it's not that far."

She slanted her head and sighed again. "What do you think will happen if I run off on my own to go shopping and the ladies find out?"

His eyes widened. "Good point, well I guess I'll just have to come with you." He said as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He would do her the favor just this one time. She had probably arranged all of this so that they'd end up going out alone together, anyway. Yes, she most definitely wanted him!

She seemed to think about it for a moment although he knew that was part of the act, too. He smirked as he looked at her. She really did look cute though in those skinny jeans and those really nice looking shoes; they were very classy but casual. She had her hair up in a ponytail and her long curly hair cascaded to the side as she had her head slanted. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was fond of her fashion sense. She wasn't like the usual women in his circles who seemed to wear nothing but five inch heels and low cut dresses.

"Nah, you go ahead and surf," said Arienne. "I'll just come back before anybody notices that I left." She didn't wait for him to answer either. She smiled and gathered her small hand bag and made a swift exit, leaving him there with his mouth still open and wondering what the heck just happened.

He sighed and turned back around, already taking off his wetsuit before he arrived to his room. He changed quickly and ran out in a sprint to try to find her. It didn't take long to catch up to her.

"I thought you were going to surf," she said with surprise.

"I couldn't just let you come alone, something could happen to you," he replied.

She found herself smiling despite herself and looking up into his kind grey eyes. He really was dangerously good looking, the key word there being 'Dangerous.' And to prove this point further, they had not even arrived at the actual shopping plaza when two women who were also visiting on vacation immediately recognized him and practically cornered him into a conversation.

One of them was a tall blonde who seemed to be far too old to be wearing such scandalous attire that consisted of a mini-skirt, boots, and a low cut shirt. The other was a brunette who was younger and dressed more modestly but it seemed to Arienne that her clothes were a little too tight.

Arienne waited, expecting Brenak to tend to them for a while and then excuse himself. When she realized that they were already starting to walk in a different direction and Brenak had not even so much as made a hand signal that he'd be back, she immediately understood that he was going to ditch her for his fans. She watched until he disappeared completely from sight and when that happened, she finished walking in the direction of the plaza, hurt and feeling like a complete fool.

No matter, she was determined continue with what she had set out to do with or without him. Now she knew his true character and she understood what kind of person he was and even though she felt that this should not come as a shock to her. She still couldn't help but feel disappointed. 

OoOoOoOoOoO 

Brenak realized too late that he should have told Arienne that he would be right back. The women that had approached him were not only fans of his but they were also lost and needed directions on how to get back to their hotel. When he went back to where he had left Arienne and found that she had already left, he swore under his breath and made his way into the shopping plaza, searching through various stores and kiosks but not finding her, at first.

He had almost given up on finding her and was getting ready to head back to the beach house when he saw her through the glass window of a shoe store. She was trying on a peach colored flat but that wasn't what had gotten his attention. It was that tall and very dapper looking Romulan helping her try it on. He watched as the man's hand lingered on her ankle and gave it a caress before he smiled up at her. Brenak then watched as Arienne giggled and she was actually blushing! She had never blushed around_ him_!

That was it! Without giving it another thought, Brenak strode inside the store.

QQQQQ

Arienne found herself blushing and smiling down at the shoe salesman. He was tall and well built and very flirty! Usually she didn't flirt like that with complete strangers, but he was so cute and it helped her get over her disappointment of the flake Brenak turned out to be, leaving her on her own that way after he had declared that he was worried something would happen to her if she went shopping alone! Well here she was, shopping alone! But here the cute salesman was, too. It was a nice save to the beginning of a drag of a day.

"If I may say, you are one of the most lovely ladies I have ever encountered," the salesman declared as he helped her into the peach shoe. "Allow me," he said as he secured the tiny shoe clasp on the side. In the process, he copped a feel of her ankle.

It was a little disturbing to her that he would do that, but she figured, what the heck! It wasn't like she would ever see him again. So she found herself blushing and smiling wider at his handsome face as her telepathic ability picked up on the shoe salesman's attraction to her since his hand was in direct contact with her skin.

Brenak himself walked into the store then. "Ari, I been looking all over for you," he declared as he gave the salesman the dirtiest look.

"You're married?" asked the salesman as he seemed to get a deer in headlights look on his face.

"Absolutely not!" she stated as she sort of ignored Brenak.

The salesman's smile returned at that point. "A relative, no doubt," he said in the direction of the other young man, though he knew Brenak didn't look at all related to the pretty girl sitting in front of him. If anything, the only thing these two had in common were they were both obviously of the new breed of half Romulans that Romulus seemed to be getting more of in the past fifty years.

"Uh, no!" said Brenak. "We are not related! I'm just responsible to make sure she gets back home in one piece without being utterly molested in someplace like, oh, I don't know. A shoestore?"

Arienne's eyes squinted. "Well I guess if people want to make sure their friends are okay, they shouldn't flat-leave them in the first place."

"Well _I guess_ if people wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions they would stick around and wait for a friend to come back instead of going off and making themselves into a spectacle in public!"

"Well_ I_ GUESS, if someone wanted someone else to wait for them they should _say_ something first before disappearing!" she said as she began to unclasp the shoes she had been in the act of trying on.

The salesman asked, "I suppose madam will not be purchasing these today?"

She tried to ignore that Brenak was standing there, fuming. What the hell was_ he_ so mad about? "No, I will not. I will most likely come back in a day or two when I have a clear head."

The salesman smiled broadly. "I would heartily welcome a visit by one as lovely as yourself," he said as he smiled and stood to take the shoes back to the stockroom.

"Oh please," Brenak murmured under his breath.

Arienne continued to ignore him as she stood and left the store. He followed behind her as she seemed to be walking faster and faster.

She waited until they were clear outside and turned to face him. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, you're the one that's mad!" As far as he was concerned, he had gotten her away from that obviously pervy shoe salesman and saved her reputation.

"First of all, you just go and leave me standing on the street without so much as a 'by your leave'. So I go shopping and then you come barging up into the store with this look on your face like you're just so _angry_ or whatever. For whatever that reason was, I'm totally lost-"

"That guy shouldn't have been touching you that way! He wasn't respecting you!"

"Oh and you did?" she asked as she folded her arms and squinted at him.

"Yeah, I saved you from that perv!"

She scoffed. "Well way to make your_self_ feel better! Did my dad send you to keep an eye on me or something?!"

"You know how I feel about dads interfering, so why would you say something like that to me?" he asked, becoming angry again.

"Because someone I saw as a friend just dumped me for two touristy fans, one whom was quite naked and the other whose clothes were so tight I thought you'd be better off dropping her at a hospital for lack of proper circulation! Then you've got some nerve to say something about that guy not respecting me! I'm a single woman and I can talk to whoever I want!"

"Talk! That doesn't mean he should touch you!"

"He was a _shoe salesman_ helping me into a pair of _shoes_!" she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"He was a pervert copping a feel on your leg!"

"So you're going to tell me you've never touched a woman at all? Ever?"

He was stopped cold. He could lie, but what was the use? "I just think a woman like you shouldn't sell herself short."

She turned and walked away from him, not having one more word to say. He was following behind her. Why was she going back to the beach house? "Ari. Ari, wait!" He realized then he had yet to apologize for having left her earlier. "Listen, Ari, I just was showing them back to their hotel, they were lost. I'm sorry I totally forgot to tell you I was going to be right back, but when I got back you were already gone."

She didn't understand why, but she felt a sheen of tears in her eyes. She refused to let it show as she walked into the wind and let it dry her eyes. She did not answer him.

They walked back to the beach house in silence. Brenak couldn't understand why she was still angry. "Could you please tell me why you're so angry with me? I apologized already!"

They were almost at the beach house at that point. She turned and looked up at him. "Everyone is always telling me what to do," she said as her eyes were full of anger by then. "And then I'm getting moral advice from a guy whose face is in the fashion news month after month for having girls get into violent altercations with one another? How dare you?" she said as her voice shook. "Let me tell you something! I'm an adult, do you understand me? AN ADULT! And if I want a guy to help me into a pair of shoes, it should tell you how pitiful the state of my dating life is that that's the thrill of my week!"

He wanted to sink into the ground. His mother had been right. She did know about his sort-of reputation. He tried to save things, "Ari, that's not what I meant when I said-"

She put her hand up. "I'm not done! You think I don't know anything? You think I'm stupid? You think I can't take care of myself? Well at least I've gone years on Earth without one news article written about me in the scandal pages! So while you're being all judgy with me, think about yourself and apply that to your own situation because I don't need one more person telling me what I should and should not do! And thank you for the late excuse-laden apology! I think one of those girls should slap you so hard one day it rattles your brain and you get some sense!"

She walked away from him then and went into the beach house. He was left standing there, halfway dizzy from the things she had said to him. All told, it hadn't been too bad, but was her hinting at how lame her dating life had been a signal for him to take her out? He was a little bit confused.

He walked into the beach house then and saw D'Nal sitting up on the couch. "Why is Arienne so mad?" D'Nal asked, confused.

"Did she say anything?" asked Brenak.

"No, just that you were a huge jerk," D'Nal smiled expansively.

Arienne walked down then and turned to D'Nal, ignoring Brenak standing right there. "I'm going to have security drive me over to the Apnex Spa. I just booked a massage and sea salt scrub, all right? I'll catch lunch there, too. I'll be home in time to start my redesigns on my shoe this afternoon."

"See you later, sis," said D'Nal.

She began walking toward the door. "Arienne, wait," said Brenak.

"Is there something _else_ you would like to say, oh wise one?" she asked sarcastically.

He knew then that it was time to back off. He stepped back with his hands up as if in surrender. "Enjoy your spa day," he said as neutrally as possible.

"Is that another command?" she asked, "Or was that just a suggestion of what I could maybe do with my day? No suggestions that I should maybe behave myself while I'm there? Have a female massage therapist as opposed to a male one or something? Anything? Anything? Huh?" she asked with a look on her face that dared him to say something else to her.

He found himself sighing, exhausted. She really had issues with people telling her what to do. But who was he kidding? So did he! "I meant, like, if you wanted to," he shrugged, trying to save face, "enjoy your spa day."

She just shook her head with a, "Pfft!" and then was gone, out the door.

Brenak turned and looked at D'Nal. "Dude, what did you do to my sister?" he squinted at him.

"I don't know?" he halfway lied.

"You did something! She doesn't do sarcasm unless someone really pisses her off," said D'Nal as he stood and stretched. "Well just stay out of her way until tomorrow."

"Why until tomorrow?" asked Brenak.

"Ari never stays mad for long," said D'Nal. "She just needs to blow off some steam and then she'll be okay."

But there was one thing sticking in Brenak's craw. _"I think one of those girls should slap you so hard one day, it rattles your brain and you get some sense!" _she had said to him. Arienne thought he didn't have any sense. What was that supposed to mean? It was obvious she was angry because she wanted a boyfriend or something, but D'Nal was telling him stay clear of her until the next day? That didn't make any sense to him at all!


	5. A Potential Suitor

Having gone to the spa had been a good call. The alone time allowed Arienne to reflect on many things that needed to be done; one of them being that she needed to apologize to Brenak for having gone overboard, but that decision was tied with the one where she was resolved to keep a safe distance from him for the remainder of the trip. He was trouble any way you looked at it and her time and energy was better suited elsewhere. The further away she stayed from him, the better she would be. She hated how she thought about him so much lately and what had happened between them at the mall often replayed itself in her mind. After all was said and done, she probably wouldn't see him again once the week was done.

She had a feeling that he found her attractive but how many women _didn't_ he find attractive? She had not been exaggerating when she said to him that one of those women should slap some sense into him. The truth was that women probably came and went in his life constantly and it obviously didn't matter to him one way or another since he had not settled down yet with one. At least he had been right about one thing, though. She was worth more than that.

The very thought of becoming involved in such a scandal grieved her heart tremendously and she ultimately decided that she simply would not subject herself to that. She wouldn't ignore him or treat him differently, but she'd try to stay away from him as much as possible for here on out.

When it was time for her to get her massage, the first thing the Romulan woman said to her once she placed her hands on her back was, "You are tense, just relax."

"I wish I could," Ari mumbled back.

The Romulan woman smiled as she rubbed her hands with some kind of aromatic oil. "Don't worry. When I'm done with you, the world could be crumbling to pieces and it wouldn't even phase you."

Ari laughed. "Bring it on!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"It's late," Brenak stated.

"Yeah, what's your point?" D'Nal replied as he popped a potato chip in his mouth.

Brenak narrowed his eyes at him. "Didn't you just eat dinner? Why are you still eating?"

"Cause I'm still hungry dude," D'Nal said as he reached for his soda.

"Your family must spend a fortune on food alone."

D'Nal rolled his eyes.

Pause. "Aren't you worried about your sister?"

D'Nal didn't look up from his video game. "Apparently I don't need to be since you seem worried enough for the both of us. Why don't you call her and make sure she's alright?" he said as he tossed his comm to him without even looking.

Brenak just barely caught it with his hand. "She's already mad at me. You think she's going to appreciate me calling her? She's going to think that I'm trying to keep tabs on her. And why aren't you worried about her? She is your sister after all."

"Because she has security with her. She'll be fine. You're just feeling guilty because you upset her earlier and can't remedy the situation like you would with other girls by flashing that smile of yours."

"What is that supposed to mean, D'Nal? I have no clue what I'm expected to do since your sister is in love with me and that's why this situation has gotten so out of hand in the first place."

That statement was enough to finally make D'Nal pause his game and smirk over at Brenak. "You really don't get it do you?"

"What don't I get?"

D'Nal laughed again but then sighed and his face suddenly became serious. "Listen, Brenak. You're my friend and we go back a ways. I look up to you in many respects not only because you're an awesome surfer, but also because you went against the odds and came out a total hot shot. Not many people can do what you've done. But when it comes to my sister, you're bringing up a whole different set of rules and I think you should just stay away from her."

"To spare her of her feelings? Maybe I should just tell her that I am currently not seeking a relationship of any sort…."

D'Nal raised his hands to make him stop. "Dude, just stay away from her. Don't ignore her, but don't seek her out either. We'll just hang out like we were supposed to when we first planned this trip before you met my sister and your brain suddenly turned to mush."

"She will be offended," Brenak replied.

D'Nal hung his head and sighed. "No, she won't."

Brenak decided to just let it go and occupy his thoughts on other things. It had been a while since he had done some reading, so off to his room he went to do just that.

Arienne arrived around ten minutes after Brenak had gone upstairs. She was sporting several shopping bags. The women had been in the kitchen preparing a night snack and they all quickly encircled her. Ari happily gave them each their own bags. "They had these adorable hats for sale in this open aired kiosk down the street from the Spa, I couldn't resist it!"

"Thank ye kindly darlin'! They're beautiful hats, if I do say so myself," Comfort said as she placed hers on her head.

While the women were giggling and talking over their recent gifts, Ari looked around and realized that Brenak wasn't present. It figured that he'd run off at the first altercation they had! Regardless of that, she knew that she still needed to apologize to him.

She wandered over to D'Nal who was heavily involved in his video game, so she waved a hand in front of him. He didn't even blink so she quickly reached over and hit the pause button on his game.

"Hey! I'm fighting the boss!" He whined.

"Where's Brenak?"

D'Nal blinked. "Listen, you and I need to have a talk about him."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Aren't you going to ask me how my day at the Spa went, first?"

He smirked. "I can already tell they worked a miracle. You look a lot better."

"Thanks, I feel it too. I just… I don't know what got into me today. So while I'm feeling relaxed, I figure now's the time to talk to him."

"I had a feeling that Brenak would eventually get to you and it might not be the last time it happens either. That's why I think that-" He looked around to make sure the older women weren't listening, particularly Brenak's mom. "I think you should just stay away from him."

She nodded. "Say no more. I've been thinking the same thing. It's just not worth my peace of mind and that's what this vacation was supposed to be about. But I still need to apologize for lashing out at him earlier."

"I saw him go upstairs," D'Nal replied, purposely leaving out the fact that Brenak had been worried about her. He knew his sister and therefore also knew that it would be better to leave out that detail. It was very apparent that she did harbor some sentiment towards him, although love was probably not it. And while Brenak was a great guy, he could already foresee how disastrous any kind of union between these two would be. They were better off just being civil with one another until the end of the trip and then never see each other again. Without giving the subject another thought, D'Nal returned to his video game.

Ari went upstairs and suddenly felt extremely nervous as she reached his door. It didn't really make sense. It was, after all, only Brenak! But still, she hesitated as she stood outside his door and even contemplated doing this another time. But just as she was about to raise her hand and begin forming it into a fist to knock on the door, it opened at that very moment. The shock of it propelled her forward and she could already feel herself starting to fall.

"Oh hey!" Brenak yelped as he caught her in his strong arms. She looked up at him still in shock and was awed to discover how exciting it felt to be in his arms as he held her so tightly against him, as if they fit together perfectly. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like much longer than that. His grey eyes pierced hers and she felt her stomach flip. Her mouth went dry and she suddenly didn't know what to say or do as she looked up at him. Suddenly angry at her traitorous body, she finally began to pull away from him. "If you missed me that much Ari, you could have knocked sooner," he said with a flirtatious smile on his face.

Her face immediately wrinkled up angrily as she pushed him away. "You _would _say something like that, you conceited brat!"

"Now, now," he replied, very much enjoying their interplay. "There's no need to deny it. How long were standing out there?"

"I came to apologize, you jerk!" and for good measure, she slapped his arm and quickly folded her own as she tapped her foot impatiently.

His eyes quickly lit up. "Apologize? For what?"

She sighed. "For lashing out at you earlier. I know that I went too far, but that doesn't mean that I didn't mean what I said! I did! Every last word!" That would show him!

Brenak gave her a blank stare before he cocked his head to the side. "What did we argue about again?"

Ari rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air as she started walking off to her own room. "I'm gonna go work on my designs now."

"You don't need to come up with an excuse to talk to me, Ari. I'm all ears anytime you want to see or speak to me. There really is no need to be shy," he said as he walked behind her.

She however continued to ignore him as she made her way to her own room. She was just reaching the door when he suddenly lunged forward and blocked the entryway. His reflexes were astounding! It seemed like he was constantly surprising her with some hidden talent of his.

"I'm waiting," he whispered with a mischievous smirk.

She sighed and tried to look annoyed although seeing this playful side of him was amusing, especially since his attention was focused on her. She wasn't used to it and it was annoying to discover that she actually liked it. "Waiting for what?" she asked.

"For my goodnight kiss," he said as he unfolded his arms and leaned towards her as he puckered his lips together.

"In your dreams!" she said as lifted a hand to block his face from her own.

"Why are you suddenly playing hard to get? I'm trying to make it up to you! I'm being a gentleman!"

She quickly looped under his shoulder, bypassing him entirely and slipped into her room. She closed the door before he could stop her. She giggled mischievously when she was finally alone in her room. Then she tried to stealthily lean up against the door to listen out for him.

"I know you'll be back since it's obvious you can't stay away from me. But next time, try knocking on the door instead of eavesdropping."

She went and picked up the first thing she could find and threw it against the door so that it made a loud 'thump' noise.

Brenak chuckled to himself before finally walking back to his own room, feeling an unexpected thrill at what had just occurred.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Comfort smiled and giggled when she heard the thumping noise come from upstairs. "How long before they get hitched y'all?"

Bea giggled soon after. "I don't know. They seem to be total opposites. They've already had it out from what I heard!"

Jan smiled. "It'll be good for him. He's used to getting what he wants just like his father; I hope she gives him hell."

They all gasped. "Jan! You're so bad!" remarked Bea. "He's your son!"

Jan nodded her head. "It's true! He needs a good woman to put him in his place so he can finally become a real man and I frankly hope that she's the one to do it!"

Comfort sighed. "Well time will certainly tell."

QQQQQ

Arienne lay down to rest for a little while and wound up sleeping through the entire evening and into the next morning. It must have been the spa visit. She awoke with a start. She hadn't meant to go right to sleep like that and stay out for the whole night!

Her head was still groggy as she sat up, but she knew she needed to accomplish several things that day: Reworking some of the design flaws on her ongoing creation, going back to the mall to pick up those cute peach colored flats… and staying away from Brenak. She knew it must be a bad indication if even her little brother could see she needed to stay clear of the guy.

Ari got out of bed and into the shower and on with her day. She grabbed a quick small breakfast since everyone seemed to still be sleeping in that morning and had security take her to the mall. She wanted those shoes!

Once she arrived there, she saw that the shoe store wouldn't be open for another half an hour. So she browsed the store right next door to it during that wait time.

"Were you looking for me?" asked a slightly familiar voice. She turned and saw it was the cute salesman from the shoe store from the day before. He was obviously full Romulan and he had a face that was very easy to look at.

She found herself smiling up at him and said, "I actually came back for those shoes. The store isn't open yet, so…" She shrugged as she looked at the items on the shelf she was perusing.

"And will the rude male from yesterday be joining you at the store, once again?" asked the slightly flirty man with half a grin.

She shook her head as she thought of Brenak. "No. He won't be."

His smile broadened. "Perhaps I may interest you in more than a pair of shoes today. I am Somak of the House of tr'Maar. May I formally ask you for the name of your house?"

Her head felt like spinning. This had never happened in all of her years! Then again, she almost never went out alone. Formally asking for someone's house was usually preceded by an offer to 'get to know you' in hopes of meeting one another's parents sooner rather than later. But she found herself automatically answering, "I am Arienne of the House of tr'Xereth."

Somak seemed to turn slightly green then. "Lady t'Xereth. You are the daughter of Rekar?"

Arienne wanted to wilt with discouragement. Did EVERYONE know about her father when it came to her? "That's me. But I'm not Lady t'Xereth. My mother holds that title."

He seemed to recover quickly. "No matter. My house is small, but it_ is_ noble. Perhaps you would give thought to spending some time with me? We own the chain of stores you met me in yesterday. I only work there because my mother thinks it will build character. Whatever that means," he joked with half a smile.

She looked up at him and knew that this was probably who she should be with and not a scandalous man like Brenak. "I'll give it some thought," she said with a nod.

His smile was full again. "I thank you for the consideration."

After that, he went and opened the store. Arienne followed and immediately purchased the shoes that had been on her mind since the day before. Before she left, he made sure to give her his contact information. "You may call on me anytime you wish," he said as she was about to leave the store.

She looked back at him. He really was nice to look at. But she knew that that was not the most important thing when it came to being with someone else. But how would she know who he truly was if she didn't give him a try? "I just might do that," she admitted with a smile and then left the store.

Arienne left the mall and got into the waiting security car.

She realized as she was chauffeured back to the beach house that she was feeling strangely. No Romulan male had ever come near her. EVER. None had ever asked her out directly because most of them knew who her father was. Now here was this man and once he realized who her father was, he had forged ahead anyway.

Since he had approached her in the old way, she knew she was going to have to call her father and tell him who he was before she went out with Somak… if she went out with him. She sighed. That was not a conversation she wanted to have. But she needed to start dating _sometime_! What did he think? She was going to remain alone forever? Her eldest brother was married already and the twins had ladies they were considering.

D'Nal had even had two semi-girlfriends in the past! The roadblock for him back then had been her mother insisting he put his full attention on his education and not girls.

And then she realized who her ally could be in this endeavor. Her mother. She wouldn't ask her father by himself, she would ask her mother and her father at the same time. She grinned. Her mother would help her out, that was certain!

But first, she needed to make up her mind about Somak himself. Choices, choices…

Security dropped her off right in front of the beach house. Arienne walked in with her bag from the shoe store. The ladies were downstairs making another huge breakfast and talking among themselves. D'Nal, as usual, was sitting at the breakfast bar and having his face stuffed with every manner of food by her mother's friends. They thought her little brother was just too cute! She looked at his face. He _was_ cute! She smiled at him happily.

"We didn't even know you were gone!" Bea exclaimed as she saw the bag in her hand. She gasped. "You went shopping again without _us_?!"

Arienne couldn't help the huge grin on her face as she spilled the one piece of information she knew would get her out of trouble for going out without them to shop. "I met a guy," fell out of her mouth.

The ladies all looked at one another, wide-eyed. "Do you like him?" asked Jan.

Arienne shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to like someone you don't know. But he was the store guy from yesterday that I'd met and today he formally introduced himself in the old way and gave me his contact info just like that," she snapped in the air. "He didn't even back down when he realized who my father was and that's courage… or extreme stupidity…" she said as she was trying to figure out which one it happened to be in the case of Somak.

"Ari, you know dad isn't going to like this one bit," said D'Nal past a mouth full of food.

Bea sighed. "Bianca went through this with my husband years ago. He didn't want her with anybody, either."

Arienne sighed. "Maybe I should call her since she's been there. I mean, she used to babysit me when I was little and I haven't spoken to her in two years. I know she's busy and everything but-" Ari shrugged. "I should call her?"

Bea nodded. "You should call her. Try her late tonight. Where she lives will be midday by then."

Arienne smiled and nodded. "I will."

QQQQQ

Brenak walked down the stairs just then as she was on her way up. She gave him a friendly smile, but she did not look like the girl he had teased just the day before with asking for a kiss outside her door. She seemed to be lost in thought. "Morning, Ari," he greeted.

"Morning, Bre," was all she said as she bypassed him.

Brenak walked downstairs and asked, "What's wrong with Arienne today? She's in the clouds or something."

Comfort, ever the troublemaker, said offhand, "Oh some Romulan man is after her to date her. Introduced himself formally and _everything_! She's trying to make up her mind about whether to tell her daddy and go forward with things."

Jan and Bea were looking at him almost out of the corner of their eyes, trying to gage his reaction.

"What_ guy_?" asked Brenak, seemingly outraged. "Some guy, just out of nowhere?" he asked as he looked over at D'Nal. "What do you think of this?"

D'Nal shrugged. "If she can catch a miracle or something maybe dad will be impressed with how that guy approached her and let her date him. She still has to make up her mind about him first." He finished up a huge cup of Comfort's specially mixed juice then. "I'm going to play a game for an hour and then catch some waves," he said dismissively as he went into the living room and started hooking up his portable game unit.

Brenak looked as if someone had stepped on his head. "Our Ari?" he asked again as if he were in disbelief.

"Our Ari," Bea remarked with a wonderfully maternal smile. She decided to really mischief out and dig things in deeper. "Maybe she'll finally fall in love and get married… have some babies. Lots of babies," she tried to say offhand.

"Well who is he, what's his name?" asked Brenak wondering if he knew who the man was.

"Some guy she met at the store yesterday," Jan said, watching her son closely.

He seemed suddenly annoyed. "Shoe Man? No way!" he turned to go upstairs to speak with her.

"Where are you going?" asked his mother.

"I have to ask Ari if she is seriously thinking about going out with_ that_ guy!" he said as he turned to walk back upstairs.

D'Nal seemed to be wonderfully oblivious to everything as he was already deeply engaged in his gaming scenario.

QQQQQ

Barely two minutes after she'd closed her door, put her new shoes away and pulled up the schematics to work out the data for her prototype, there was a knock on Arienne's door.

She opened it quickly wondering if it were D'Nal. But standing just outside her door was Brenak. Her heart jumped and she was becoming a little bit upset with herself because of the way her body reacted to him without her permission. But she had promised herself to keep a wide berth between the two of them. "Yes?" she asked impersonally as if he were a stranger at her door.

"What is this I hear about you dating that guy from the store?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"His name is Somak and he's actually kind of nice," she said noncommittally.

"Him? _That_ guy? Touchy feely shoe man?" he asked in clarification.

She felt her face blushing. "Yes, him."

"Why him? Ari, I told you you deserved better than that!" he halfway whispered.

She looked up at the sky, exasperated. She focused on not becoming emotionally involved with his words and losing her temper. "Brenak, I can't stay single forever. My dad is just going to have to come to terms with that. And maybe a guy like Somak will shake him out of these entrenched thoughts."

"A guy like Somak? What does that mean?"

"He's from a noble Romulan family and he approached me formally." She shrugged. "And not for nothing, but no one else has done that up till now. So there's a first time for everything and I think I might start my debut into the official Romulan dating pool with him." She shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Ari, it _is_ a big deal," he said emphatically. "Don't you understand that if you and this guy formally introduce families, you could like get _married_ and everything? I thought you said you didn't need that when you had a career?"

She sighed. "I thought that was the case. But then he was standing there today… He's not bad to look at, so that helps you know? He has great manners… what more could a girl want? And anyway, that marriage stuff doesn't happen until you know whether or not you even want to be with the person like that. You get like two or three dates before you make up your mind about meeting each others families and everything. And anyway, dating is like… it's interviews."

He looked deadpan. "Interviews?"

"You know, you're interviewing the person to see if you want to marry them. And I gather after two or three dates you know whether you want to keep going or not and take things to the next level."

"I've done plenty of dating-"

"Yeah, I know," she scoffed as she folded her arms.

"And I haven't interviewed a girl yet who's right for the role of my wife! So dating just for the sake of dating gets you nothing but more dates and more dates and-"

"So you can date… but I can't? Is that what you're saying?"

"It's not that you can't, Ari, it's just-" And he was standing there, words stuck in his throat. There was something he wanted to say, he just didn't know what it was. "Just don't date_ him_, Ari, please…"

"Because?" she pushed, trying to understand what his point was.

"Because-" He shook his head. He didn't have a true 'because'. He couldn't find another word to say…

She went and slammed the door in his face.


End file.
